About a month ago while I was on my way to lunch, I saw a teenaged guy strolling down the street wearing a black T-shirt with a large Nazi Swastika logo on it. A few weeks after that I started seeing swastikas on bags, hats, patches and even little wallets being sold in street sidewalks.
I wish I could call it insensitivity, but its just plain ignorance really. I saw a girl in a mall once, dressed up in gothic wear and sporting a bag with a huge swastika flag on it. I wanted to walk up to her and in front of her weirdo friends ask her bluntly what does the symbol mean. But I hesitated because you just don’t discuss history with people dress in plaid skirts, black t-shirts, who highlight their hair red and wear dark shades of lipsticks. I am willing to bet that these kids who wear these symbols have little or absolutely no idea as to what it means.
Now I did a little research on this after a friend here in the office told me how the swastika is one of the most misunderstood symbols in history. It’s actually considered to be the oldest cross and emblem in the world. It’s been around for the past 3,000 years and it even predates the ancient Egyptians. The cross in itself, according to what I’ve read, is actually made up of four letter L’s that stands for Luck, Light, Love and Life. That was until Hitler came along and used it as the official emblem of the Nazi Party in the 1920s. And so the poor defenseless swastika has then become a symbol of hate, racism, violence, death and murder. There is a slight difference between the Nazi emblem and the original swastika. Hitler’s version is tilted 45 degrees as compared to the original. Also the Nazi version is black inside a white circle against a red background.
I know how some kids think the logo looks cool. Hitler’s followers did say that it had a sort of a hypnotic effect on people. I figure that the reason why some kids wear swastikas is because they saw punk icons like Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols wear them at one time. But in my opinion, Filipinos wearing the anti-Semitic, pro-Aryan swastika is the equivalent of sporting (winter) Hip Hop fashion in a tropical country. Inappropriate.
Swastikas are just an example, there is more. I’ve seen people who wear Dread/Rasta Reggae Hats and I doubt they even listen to reggae, let alone know who Bob Marley is. They just think the colors are cute. I’m sure you’ve seen kids wearing Che Guevara T-shirts. I’d be willing to bet too that these kids have no idea who Che Guevara is. But just because they probably saw it in an album inlay of Rage Against The Machine they thought he must be cool.
Cathy’s cousin from Switzerland gave me a white T-shirt with Swiss words written in the front. As nice and as comfortable as the shirt is I have issues wearing it in public mainly because I don’t know what the words on it means. It could probably be just the brand name of the shirt, but what if it says “Kill Babies”, “Bash Homosexuals” or even “I Had Sex With My Old Gym Instructor And All I Got Was This Shirt”, I mean who knows!
I’m not the fashion police and I believe that people should wear what they want and not be judged by it. But sometimes you have to be sensitive, appropriate and aware of what image you are projecting. Knowing or unknowingly. Try going to a job interview in an S/M outfit. Or take a stroll in an all black neighborhood in a KKK costume. Or try attending church with your hair in a Mohawk. That last one reminded me of something...
I hosted an underground punk concert way back in the early nineties. It was a fundraiser program for the Ecology Club of Muntinlupa, an organization my friends and I founded back in junior high. The bands, as I was told were a nice bunch of people who didn’t mind playing for free for the benefit of our cause. They are in just for the sheer pleasure of playing loud punk music (and of course the free food). But they did have names like “Aggressive Dog Attack”, “The Putang-I-Nas” and “The Kantoots”. I swear I am not making this up!
I introduced one of the groups who I think called themselves “Biofeedback”. The lead vocalist took the microphone and yelled, “Yeaaaah!!! Ayos ba tayo dyan?” (Are we doing all right there?) The agitated crowd responded in mass revelry. Then he yelled, “Alam nyo ba ang ibig sabihin ng salitang Anarchy!?!” (Do you know the meaning of the word Anarchy!?!”) There was a brief moment of silence in the crowd. “Eh @#$%, bakit nyo sinusulat sa mga pantalon nyo!?!” (Then why the hell are you scribbling it on your jeans!?!) After saying that he queued his band and started unfastening loud guitar riffs that would make a racecar’s engine sound like a kazoo.
I laughed myself silly after seeing how the moshing skin headed guys in suspenders and Doc Marten’s had no idea their intelligence has just been insulted on stage. Ignorance can truly be irritating, but it can also be down right amusing.
